Picture this:
You’ve got a sales meeting coming up with an incredible, high value prospect. In fact, if you land this client, it would be a game-changing, perhaps career-changing deal.
You have just one hour…one precious, valuable hour on your prospect’s busy calendar. Factor in his or her late arrival, some casual chit chat, grabbing a coffee, and a quick emergency call that must be taken, and now you’ve got 45 minutes.
No big deal. You’ve got this.
All you have to do is communicate the incredible value you have to offer, share your case studies, offer some testimonials and voila! — you’ll close the sale for sure. No brainer.
But first…you have to give context.
And then…you have to explain what it is that you even offer.
And next…you have to explain how it works.
And…of course…you have to take and answer questions along the way.
And now you’ve got maybe 5 to 10 minutes for the good stuff – the value you can offer. Now you’re rushing through it, churning through your slides, flipping pages in your deck, and skipping over amazing case studies and testimonials.
You wrap up the meeting. The prospect says they will get back to you soon. They never do. The sale is lost.
But not all is lost.
In fact, there’s one extremely simple way for you to save your next sales pitch. There’s one easy way to maximize your time in the meeting giving you more space to share value and real-world results of your product or service.
Begin your pitch with a short video.
Simple right? Well yes…it is simple. And effective!
There are three primary ways that leveraging video at the beginning of your pitch can, in fact, save your pitch:
With a great video, you can cover all the basics in a matter of minutes. Whether it’s live action, talking head, animation, or motion graphics, you can use the medium of video to communicate the Who, What, Where and How in an efficient, tight and slick manor. You can also use it as an opportunity to communicate your cultural values—either by directly speaking to them or subtly embedding them in elements like the music, the creative, the visuals, and more.
Your client will understand the context more effectively and begin formulating proper questions to ask you.
This will give you more time to spend on the really important stuff: addressing their needs, digging into the Why, and showing the value.
Studies show that visual communication, especially video, helps an audience better understand ideas when compared to other methods of communication. In fact, visual learning is the single most powerful channel of human learning.
Combining text with compelling, relevant visuals enhances the learning experience, ensuring your prospect will “get it” quicker. Plus, since they will be occupied with listening and watching, the likelihood of them tuning out goes way down.
By leveraging a short, effective video on the front end of a meeting, you will boost your prospect’s understanding, eliminate any unnecessary or irrelevant questions they would otherwise posit, and nudge them closer to the Why.
We all attend too many meetings. It’s a sad reality of corporate life (check out my earlier article on ways to counter this 21st century beast).
However, not all meetings have to be boring, stale or stiff…especially a sales pitch.
By starting off with a fun, whimsical video, you will lighten the mood out the gate. Assuming it’s well produced and well scripted, a video can add a layer of levity to the meeting, get your prospects laughing (or at least smiling!), and grease the skids of the conversation.
Fun is better than lame, right?
In summary, don’t forfeit your next sales pitch, blunder your next meeting, or botch your next presentation. Don’t let the clock run out on your next incredible conversation, conversion, or deal
Time is money, especially for high value individuals with busy calendars. So why not spend your time doing what you do best: addressing their needs, sharing your Why, and showing the Value.
Video will help you get there faster and ensure it’s as effective as possible when you do.
